Monday, June 25, 2007

God's gonna cut you down

Our friend Shasta sometimes asks if I listen to any music other than Switchfoot. And of course I do. She happens to like country "music" which is anathema to me. However. I do happen to like Johnny Cash. I prefer not to think of his music as country.

I really like this song "When the Man Comes Around". It's quite possibly my favorite Christian song. I like to walk around the house saying things like, "The Virgins are all trimming their wicks." Ha ha ha! Now that's good Bible lyrics.

As a result of my Deep Love for the aforementioned song, I downloaded the song God's Gonna Cut You Down with iTunes cash (ha ha) that my mother-in-law gave me for Father's Day (thanks, Janet).

I like this song a lot. It's an old folk song, of course. I went and found the video online so you could listen to it. And you can see all the movie stars and musicians that volunteered to be in the video as a tribute to Cash (deceased by the time the song was released). I wish there was a way for you to listen to the song without watching the video first, though. Just close your eyes!

I like how Cash could embrace a song that is so uncompromisingly focused on God's judgement. "Man Comes Around" is the same way. We get really caught up in talking about God's grace (which I am all for, by the way) but the justice side of things gets ignored or perverted by judgemental idiots. The point is, you can get away with evil for a while. But eventually you will be punished. And that's not something that scares someone who is trying to live a righteous life. It is, in fact, immensely comforting to know that God's justice and judgment will come on those who plan evil against their fellow men.

The one thing that makes me nervous, though: What's a rambler? I have a guess, at least, on what a midnight rider and a backbiter is, but I just am not sure what a rambler is. Am I rambling now? Hold on, I didn't mean to be a rambl--


  1. Maybe the Allman Brothers can help shed light on what a rambler is. They were born that way, you know.

  2. Wait! I just figured out what a rambler is:

    Its "an automobile brand name used by the Thomas B. Jeffery Company between 1900 and 1914, then by its successor, Nash Motors in 1950, and finally by Nash's successor, American Motors Corporation from 1954 to 1969.... By 1968, the only vehicle produced by AMC to carry the Rambler marque, was the compact Rambler American, and for its final year in 1969 it was simply called Rambler" (Wikipedia, 2007).

    So there you go Matt. That's what a rambler is. Or should I say, Rambler, since it is a proper noun or something.f

  3. I'd guess that when he talks about a rambler, he's talking aboout men who don't really ever settle down to live in one place. They just pick up their 'stuff' and ramble on down the road. Lots of hobo's 'back in the day' were 'rambling' men. Hobo's were a mixed lot. Some were decent men who just had serious wonderlust and some would steal you blind. The thing they mostly had in common was the desire to see a part of the country they weren't in yet. Dad